Insurance coverage is a commodity that many people purchase for peace of mind and/or because local laws require such coverage. Thus, most people might consider insurance as something that is necessary and, at times, undesirable due to insurance premiums. Additionally, at least some consumers are not loyal to a particular insurance provider and might purchase insurance from a lowest cost provider in an attempt to save money. These cost conscious consumers might shop around for insurance to find lower rates, which such consumers can obtain in exchange for a reduction in the coverage amount for each occurrence and/or the type of coverage purchased. Further, it is almost impossible to determine (without specifically asking the question) whether an individual has insurance and the name of the insurance carrier. Thus, if a person asks to be driven to another location, that person might be in a vehicle that does not have insurance coverage, which can result in excessive expenses if an accident occurs during the trip. Therefore, as a passenger in a vehicle (or as another person that can suffer loss (e.g., bodily damage, property damage, and so forth) caused by the driver), it can be less than obvious whether damages resulting from an accident will be, at least partially, covered by insurance.
The automobile insurance industry has been exploring ways in which it can take advantage of information about a vehicle's location, conditions of operation, and other factors, to assess risk dynamically and thereby adjust insurance rates. Some devices collect and integrate information related to a vehicle. These devices are used as black boxes that operate outside the user's visual awareness or that provide feedback through web pages or Global Positioning System (GPS) displays. This black box approach renders the service invisible to the insurance consumer and/or is only communicated to the consumer when bills are generated or when the consumer accesses a particular web page for the information. Further, if feedback is provided through web pages or GPS displays, there is additional complexity that adds a new set of controls to the various controls the driver must already contend with, thereby relegating the use of feedback to times when the operator is not actually driving in order to not increase the prospects of driver distraction.